Where are we heading?
The vital question that everyone has globally with respect to India is, whether there is a need for skill development in India. Can initiatives like Neem Scheme help the Indian youth and economy?
In order to understand the crux of the issue. Let us first critically evaluate the current scenario with respect to skills in India. We are one of the rare nationality which has close to 62% of the population in the age group of 15-59 Years. This although seems like a great thing, however as they say everything comes with terms and conditions, so is the case with this fact also.
Another great thing to note is that close to 54% of our population is under 25 years of age.Seems like a great thing in theory. We have a huge young, youthful workforce in place. In just a span of 20 years, the global labor force is expected to decline by 4%, whereas in India it is expected to rise by 32%. Just keep things in the right perspective we have quoted the figures here from a study conducted in 2015. Since we are in 2018 we can expect things to have grown even further by now.
So where is the problem?
All seems good till now, So here comes another amazing fact. Out this huge young and youthful labor force, only 2% have industrial skills. Yes, Only 2%. That too is statistics. We have no way of telling the quality of even this minuscule skilled labor.
It really becomes very clear that lack of skills development is a big issue with us. In a way, its stagnating the industrial growth. See we have a huge young workforce. Without proper skills, they are completely unproductive.
Where can our nation actually be industrially and economically if we somehow manage to convert this unskilled labor into the skilled workforce? The answer is simple if we can achieve this, then we can take over any economy of the world.
Indians are considered to be both intelligent and hard-working, all we need is to match the global industrial skillsets that are in demand. The current government took cognizance of the fact, the same became evident by the following words of Hon’ble PM Of India Shri Narendra Modi at Independence Day speech of 2014:
“Today, the world and India need a skilled workforce. If we have to promote the development of our country then our mission has to be `skill development’ and `Skilled India’. Millions and Millions of Indian youth should acquire the skills which could contribute towards making India a modern country.
I also want to create a pool of young people who are able to create jobs and the ones who are not capable of creating jobs and do not have the opportunities, they must be in a position to face their counterparts in any corner of the world while keeping their heads high by virtue of their hard work and their dexterity of hands and win the hearts of people around the world through their skills.
We want to go for the capacity building of such young people. My brothers and sisters, having taken a resolve to enhance the skill development at a highly rapid pace, I want to accomplish this.”
NEEM Scheme & Skill Development.
Feeling the pulse of the industry, the government of India in association with AICTE has come up with a great skill development initiative called the NEEM Scheme. It is a unique initiative wherein the unskilled workforce will get on the job training. This training will be real time and with established Industries. The trainees will also be earning as they gain the right skills. At the end of the training, we have an employable youth with a job and relevant skill in his hand.
So coming to the title of the topic, we cannot stress anymore the importance of having the skilled workforce with us. Our endeavor here is to keep our visitors posted on the latest developments on this front. So stay tuned and stay informed about the latest developments on NEEM Scheme.
